Welcome to vokohtz.org. Vokohtz is a combination of the names Vokoun and Kohtz, which share a few middle letters.
Jamie and Craig will be Kohtzs, and Conner and Abby will be Vokouns, but together we are the Vokohtzs.

Archives for June 2011

Hello all! I've been pretty lazy lately on the blog posts. We moved the computer upstairs to make room for the babies on the first floor, and I've found it increasingly difficult to haul myself plus 45 extra pounds up those stairs! But due to popular demand, I decided to get another blog post in.....possibly the last one before we have babies!!

I've been going to weekly appointments with the doctor. Each week they check my amniotic fluid and the position of the babies, then they hook me up to monitors to check that the babies heart-rates increase when they move. This helps determine the level of stress that the babies are under. So far, so good! Every week the little Kohtz's get stellar reviews....they are both very healthy and somehow aren't too stressed in there. It seems amazing that I have two babies inside of me that are about 5 pounds each. I am not swelling at all now (other than my giant midsection), even with the increased heat outside. I guess I'm a good baby incubator, even at the ripe old age of 38. Craig says that if aliens came to earth in order to reproduce with humans, they would abduct me since I seem to be such a good baby incubator. Oh Craiggers.

My work hours have been reduced to 4 hours each day this week. I actually like going to work for part of the day, as I get SO FREAKING BORED if I'm at home all day long. My back has really started hurting when I sit for long periods of time, so 4 hours at work is perfect at this point. Then I can come home and lay down with a heat pad on my back, which seems to help. I have found that I really can't do anything at home or I start having contractions and have to lay down. Therefore, my schedule is pretty good at this point. I keep a little busy at work, then come home and fight boredom for the rest of the day. I guess I should enjoy being bored now....that will all change very quickly!!

Craig is almost done with the basement and it looks amazing! The carpet was installed today, and it looks so great. I'm sure he will be posting some pictures this weekend. I am really excited to get to know Craig again. I think we have spent about 1 hour of time together (other than sleeping) in the last 3 weeks.

Conner has been keeping busy with some electronics that Craig has him interested in (what nerds!!) and he has been helping out a ton around the house and with the lawn and garden. Abby got her braces off last week and she looks so beautiful and grown up! She is on swim team this summer, and she is doing an excellent job! Conner and Abby got to spend some time in McCook with my parents last week, and today they left for Minnesota with their dad. Hopefully the babies don't come until after the 4th....Dan will bring them back to Lincoln if anything happens earlier than that!

Here is a picture of Abby without braces!

And here is a picture of Conner at the lake in McCook with the shirt that Uncle Stu sent him. It's a little small....maybe one of the twins can wear it.

Well, here is the week 35 picture. I'm pretty large at this point. I figure the babies are a little over 5 pounds now. The doctor wants me to get to 36 or 37 weeks, so hopefully only 1-2 weeks to go! As of now, we are going to have a natural childbirth....the girl is head down but the boy is breech. The doctor said after the girl is born they can "reach up and turn the boy" if necessary. That sounds pretty scary, but it's better than having a c-section as far as I'm concerned. I need a short recovery if I'm going to take care of two infants (with lots of help, of course). We will let you all know when something happens!!

Hello all! Well we are at week 32 and all is well! As Craig explained in the post below, the babies are almost 4 lbs each now, which is really good for twins. Whats even better is that they are the same size and both appear to be very healthy! So for me, that means I have almost 8 pounds of babies in me and we still have at least a month to go! I'm very thankful that they are healthy, but man, it seems like I've been pregnant forever!!

The girl (baby A) is head down and the boy (baby B) is butt down. The doctor explained that as long as I want to have a vaginal delivery, we will probably be able to do so even if the second baby is breech. I would much prefer to NOT get a C-section, and the doctor said that he would prefer to deliver them vaginally. The bad part about not having a C-section is just not knowing when they will be born. However, that makes this whole thing much more exciting, so I'm up for it! Even if I'm pregnant for another 8 weeks I just want two healthy babies. It is a good feeling to know that if they were born tomorrow, they would probably do very well. It takes some of the worrying out of everything.

I start going in every Monday for non-stress tests on June 13. They measure the fluids around the babies and hook us up to monitors. This helps determine if the babies are stressed and to be sure that the placenta and fluids are able to support the babies inside of the womb. I have to start taking it very easy and resting a lot to help them stay in there as long as possible. The biggest risk now is pre-term labor, even though the babies are doing well we would like them to stay in about 4-5 more weeks. It's pretty boring at home these days since there isn't much I can do. I think I watched about 5 episodes of Nip/Tuck yesterday. I need to get some books to read...so let me know if you have any suggestions!!

My mom is coming tonight to help out running Conner and Abby around this week and help keep the house in order. My mom has been so helpful throughout this pregnancy! It's so hard to be sitting here when everyone around me is working and doing things that I feel I should be doing (like cleaning, cooking, etc.). But I really need to let people help out, it's better for the babies!!

So here is a picture of week 32. As you can see, I'm really starting to "pop" out there! I just keep using that belly cream and pray that the stretch marks continue to stay away! So far so good. I've gained about 38 pounds so far....and I officially weigh more than Craiggers!

We just got done with another ultrasound this morning. Babies are 3lbs, 12oz (girl) and 3lbs, 13 oz (boy). The girl is still in-line to come out first (like always). They are both the size a single baby should be - many times twins are a little smaller. The boy is facing butt down, but there is still time for him to turn. We will now have appointments once a week, with an ultrasound each week measuring the fluid around the babies.

The way things are going, Jamie may just go full term. Good for the babies, not so good for Jamie. :)